Khat leaves chewing/use, which imparts amphetamine like effects on the user, is widely practiced in parts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and among the diaspora communities from these regions. Basic clinical and epidemiological studies from different settings have reported associations of acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, and cardiomyopathy, with khat chewing /use. This review aims to analyse the current evidence of the impact that khat, or its active constituent, cathinone, has on the cardiovascular system (CVS), particularly in two parameters, heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP). Subsequently, the possible mechanism of actions of how khat impacts these cardiovascular parameters is discussed, and different studies’ findings are summarised appropriately. The analysis of literature suggests that khat could influence HR and BP by most likely causing tachycardia and hypertension and the impacts might be dose-dependent and time-dependent. However, most of the studies involved different species and study designs, and had different limitations. Additionally, the underlying mechanisms of khat effects on these CVS parameters remain unclear. Therefore, more studies are needed to further support the current evidence of the impacts that khat has on the CVS parameters of HR and BP.
Khat, cardiovascular system (CVS) ; heart rate ; blood pressure ; cathinone ; Review